“I’M SORRY DAVE BUT I DIDN’T MAKE IT…”
Premiere Magazine publishes its “100 Best Movie Characters of All Time” and a certain sinister Red Dot is nowhere to be found. Scandalous!
All these “Top” lists—whether they come from IMDb, Entertainment Weekly, the American Film Institute, or even Sight & Sound—are a little bit arbitrary and therefore silly. There's no scientific formula for figuring this stuff out. Anyone who lets these lists provoke heated arguments is a buffoon, but they are usually good food for thought. Premiere Magazine isn't exactly a distinguished compendium of serious film criticism. No, it's a glossy, brightly-colored skin-emphasizing rag you'd find at the supermarket check-out, and is little more than an collection of advertisements for the upcoming movie season. Not that that's a bad thing, but just keep that in mind when analyzing this list. Not surprisingly, the magazine’s list consists almost entirely of popular English-language films from the last three decades—more than half the list did not appear until 1974 and 17 did not appear until 1990—with a few token fewer foreign films thrown in to create an illusion of validity. The list has some solid, reliable picks, some surprises, some strokes of brilliance, some general stupidity, and some glaring omissions. It also emphasizes how many great films are not the work of single performances or characters but of a group of characters—which of the Seven Samurai or four Ghostbusters does one pick, and who’s the main character of “Tokyo Story?”—or good writing and filmmaking.
Characters on the list can generally be divided into two categories: those characters which fascinate us—who are intriguing, complex, and mysterious—and those who are just plain likable or deliciously loathsome, which reveal more about us as an audience, our wants and desires. The inclusion of Indiana Jones says more about us than it does about him. But the vast majority of characters listed here embrace one of the central element of the human condition, which is to be weak and erring and yet likable at the same time. It’s tempting to start a poll to see whom readers would pick for their favorite movie characters of all time. But I’m tired of seeing “Lord of the Rings” take three spots in every top ten.
99. Kevin McCallister - Macauley Culkin - Home Alone
98. Antoine Doinel - Jean Pierre Leaud - The 400 Blows
97. Ace Ventura - Jim Carrey - Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
96. Tommy DeVito - Joe Pesci - Goodfellas - "Am I a clown to you?"
95. Old Mae Brown - Whoopi Goldberg - Ghost
94. Rose Sayer - Katherine Hepburn - The African Queen - "Nature is what we are put in this world to rise above."
93. Harry Lime - Orson Welles - The Third Man - "The cuckoo clock!"
92. Dil - Jaye Davidson - The Crying Game
91. Mrs. Iselin - Angela Lansbury - The Manchurian Candidate
90. John Malkovich - John Malkovich - Being John Malkovich - "Malkovich Malkovich!"
89. Sandy Olsson - Olivia Newton-John - Grease
88. Raymond Babbit - Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man
87. Captain Jack Sparrow - Johnny Deep - Pirates of the Caribbean
86. Melanie Daniels - Tippi Hedren - The Birds
85. Stanley Kowalski - Marlon Brando - A Streetcar Named Desire
84. Darth Vader - David Prowse/James Earl Jones - Star Wars - "This helmet is hot."
83. William "Bill the Butcher" - Daniel Day-Lewis - Gangs of New York - "Blood red looks done to me."
82. Jack Torrance - Jack Nicholson - The Shining - "You know I would never, ever do anything to hurt you, don't you?"
81. Aurora Greenway - Shirley MacLain - Terms of Endearment
80. Sam Spade - Humphrey Bogart - The Maltese Falcon - "It doesn't matter who loves who."
79. Hans Beckert - Peter Lorre - M - "I can't help myself!"
78. "Mad" Max Rockatansky - Mel Gibson - Mad Max
77. Annie Wilkes - Kathy Bates - Misery - "Well, Mr. Man!"
76. Tony Manero - John Travolta - Saturday Night Fever
74. Tony Montana - Al Pacino - Scarface - "Say hello to my little friend!"
73. Norman Rae - Sally Field - Norma Rae
72. Lloyd Dobler - John Cusack - Say Anything
71. Rev. Harry Powell - Robert Mitchum - The Night of the Hunter - "I can feel myself gettin' angry."
70. Judy Benjamin - Goldie Hawn - Private Benjamin
69. Terry Malloy - Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront - "I coulda been somebody."
68. Alex DeLarge - Malcolm McDowell - A Clockwork Orange - "I was cured."
67. Inspector Jacques Clouseau - Peter Sellers - The Pink Panther - "It nearly blew his yellow skin off."
66. Navin Johnson - Steve Martin - The Jerk
65. Edward Scissorhands - Johnny Deep - Edward Scissorhands
64. Rocky Balboa - Sylvester Stallone - Rocky - "Yo Adriane!"
63. Carrie White - Sissy Spacek - Carrie
62. John Shaft - Richard Roundtree - Shaft - "Up yours baby!"
61. J.J. Hunsecker - Burt Lancaster - Sweet Smell of Success
60. George Bailey - James Stewart - It's a Wonderful Life - "The money's not here..."
59. Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore - Robert Duvall - Apocalypse Now - "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like...victory."
58. Phyllis Dietrichson - Barbara Stanwyck - Double Indemnity
57. Tom Powers - James Cagney - The Public Enemy
56. Alan Swann - Peter O'Toole - My Favorite Year
55. The Dude - Jeff Bridges - The Big Lebowski (there is a God.) - "Hey man I got a beverage here!"
54. Frank Booth - Dennis Hopper - Blue Velvet - "Oh mommy!"
53. Ninotchka - Greta Garbo - Ninotchka
52. Howard Beale - Peter Finch - "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"
51. Freddy Krueger - Robert Englund - A Nightmare on Elm Street